ballot

1 of 2

noun

bal·​lot ˈba-lət 

1

a

: a sheet of paper usually preprinted with candidates and questions and used to cast a secret vote especially in an election

marked their ballots

a mail-in ballot

The question will be on the ballot in November.

also : something (such as an electronic interface) that functions like a paper ballot

b

: a small ball used in secret voting especially in the past

c

: an electronic form used to cast a vote

a campaign to have people vote for their favorite local businesses using an online ballot

2

a

: the action or system of secret voting

cast their votes in a secret ballot

b

: the right to vote

were not denied access to the ballot

c

: vote sense 1a

… I would cast my ballot as an informed citizen …

—Calvin Trillin

3

a

: the number of votes cast

She won 55 percent of the ballot.

b

: election sense 1a

claimed the ballot was rigged

… the measure … was approved on a second ballot …

—William F. Reed

4

: the drawing of lots

ballot

2 of 2

verb

balloted; balloting; ballots

intransitive verb

: to vote or decide by ballot

… members of the House, which earlier had balloted even more massively against the president … voted in their own localized political interests …

—The Pittsburgh Press

balloter noun

Did you know?

When people voted in ancient Athens, they dropped pebbles into an urn. Similarly, when voting was done by the people of Venice during the Renaissance, secrecy was assured by the use of little colored or marked balls. The Italian word for “little ball” is ballotta, from balla, meaning “ball,” and the diminutive suffix –otta. Now any kind of secret voting, by ball, piece of paper, or voting machine, is called a ballot. So is the right to vote itself.

Synonyms of ballot

Noun

• vote

Examples of ballot in a Sentence

Noun

They cast their votes in a secret ballot.

She was elected by secret ballot.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Meyer ordered Evans to certify the ballot measure for the 2024 and 2026 general elections. —Arkansas Online, 3 Nov. 2025

Transgender youth Republicans up and down the ballot have made Virginia's transgender youth a major campaign issue. —Jahd Khalil, NPR, 2 Nov. 2025

Verb

Schrader went on to set Mizzou’s single-season rushing record and finished eighth in Heisman balloting in 2023 and now is with the Jacksonville Jaguars. —Kansas City Star, 25 Sep. 2025

Wilson, who has fallen in QB Tiers balloting every year since 2020, is one of 14 quarterbacks with at least 40 starts since 2022. —Mike Sando, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Italian ballotta, from Italian dialect, diminutive of balla ball — more at balloon

First Known Use

Noun

1549, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1603, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing ballot

• absentee ballot
• Australian ballot
• ballot box
• cast one's ballot
• down-ballot
• rig the ballot
• secret ballot
• short ballot
• stuff the ballot box

Rhymes for ballot

• alate
• fallot
• mallet
• palate
• palette
• pallet
• shallot

Kids Definition

ballot

1 of 2 noun

bal·​lot ˈbal-ət 

1

: a small ball or sheet of paper used to cast a secret vote

2

a

: the action or system of voting

b

: the right to vote

3

: the number of votes cast

ballot

2 of 2 verb

: to vote or decide by ballot

Etymology

Noun

from Italian ballotta "little ball (used in voting)," from balla "ball"

Word Origin

Small objects have long been used as a means of tallying votes. In ancient Greece, a word for "pebble," psēphos, came to designate any voting token, and then to mean simply "vote," from the practice of dropping a pebble into one of two urns as decisions were made in public assemblies. In medieval Venice, small balls were used in public lotteries and elections; in one such lottery, members of the city's Great Council would draw gold and silver balls from vases to determine nominating committees for officeholders. The word for "small ball" in the Venetian form of Italian was ballotta, which was extended to other tokens used in drawing lots and voting, such as scraps of linen or paper. Familiarity with Venetian customs led to the adoption of the word as ballot in English.